


Space Prince Reunion

by FelicityGS



Series: Space Princes of the Galaxy [8]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Communication, G A M O R A, Jotun Loki, Multi, Poly Characters, Polyamory, as a sign of respect, but it works out promise, gamora consciously using her weaponized knowledge, gamora was an assassin, in deweaponized ways, jotun headcanons, my darlings, poly negotiations, she knows more about most cultures than most people realize
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-23
Updated: 2014-08-23
Packaged: 2018-02-14 00:32:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2171193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FelicityGS/pseuds/FelicityGS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter's just saved the galaxy with his new crew. He's got his ship fixed and shiny new, no criminal record, and a pretty awesome girlfriend. Honestly, he's feeling pretty on top of the world.</p>
<p>Then pirates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Space Prince Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place post Guardians of the Galaxy.
> 
> i'm not even sorry i love poly relationships and eventually am going to write more with gamora and loki negotiating between themselves as they get to know each other, but for right now
> 
> gods i love this one so much ;u;
> 
> (loki ran off to be a pirate. we'll find out more about that in another story, i think. this is how peter's heard of him over the past year, despite our space princes not talking to each other)

The ship stalls, which _not good_. Peter's checking everything over when he feels a jolt that suggests tractors and boarding and _really_ , they just saved the _galaxy_ and they're getting boarded by _invisible pirates_.

"Guys!" he shouts, getting himself ready for a fight, then freezes as he turns around.

Standing in the center of the bridge, is a _pirate_. Not just a space pirate, a proper pirate, dressed in the overcoat with white lace spilling out of the cuffs and a tricorn hat with a giant red feather sticking out, the doe skin boots and the swagger. The blue skin isn't any Earther pirate, and Peter knows those kyne lines like they're his own. Peter hasn't seen Loki in.... in _too long_ , months, years, at least a year?, and it hits him like a physical blow to the chest when Loki grins at him, cocky and sure, tilting his head and the light refracting off the gems he keeps in his braid.

" _Peter_ ," Loki croons, taking a step forward.

Then Gamora comes out of _nowhere_ and all hell breaks loose.

***

"I hope you're happy," Peter says, eyeing the damage to the inside of his ship. This just got _fixed_ , dammit. Loki and Gamora exchange glances, but neither say anything and Peter quickly steps forward, shaking a finger at them. " _No._ No. My two... _whatever_ you are are _not_ going to kill each other."

"Zie fights too poorly to be a threat," Gamora says with a dismissive head tilt. "I'll kill zir first, like you _should_ an intruder."

" _Intruder_ \--intruder! I _paid_ for half this stupid ship, the only intruder here is _you_ , you--" Peter clamps a hand over Loki's mouth, wincing at the cold that burns his skin, but Loki doesn't keep talking when Peter pulls his hand back away.

"Loki, this is Gamora. Gamora, this is Loki."

"I look forward to killing you," Loki says formally.

"Likewise."

Peter rubs his face, wondering when the hell his life got this complicated.

***

"Can you just... stay here? Till I explain to the rest of the crew?"

Loki eyes him, then looks around the room.

"You've been sleeping with her."

"Oh my _god_ , Loki, this isn't the time! You just showed up out of nowhere and you could have hailed like a sane person instead of being a dick and scaring me half out of my skin, you know, and we could have _avoided_ all this."

"In our bed," Loki adds.

Peter makes himself take a deep breath and hold it, just looking at Loki. He wants to point out that he's slept with _lots_ of people in _his_ bed, but he knows that's the wrong thing to say because none of those people mattered like Gamora does. He honestly doesn't know _what_ to say--they've always shared everything between them and before there really wasn't anyone but _them_.

"It's been a year," he finally says. It's a shitty thing, it _sounds_ shitty, and it just has Loki closing off and looking away, skin flickering before he just looks like a pretty Earther with green eyes, the bruises from where Gamora beat him into the ground still livid. Just another costume he wears when he's playing the pirate captain and not _Loki_.

(That hurts more than anything else.)

"I won't be long," Peter says. He hesitates a beat, then awkwardly pats Loki on the shoulder before heading out the door.

***

"He's Loki. He was just pulling a prank, he didn't expect anyone else to be on board."

"Wait, do you mean  _the_ Loki? Captain Loki, scourge of Asgard?" Rocket asks, sitting up and ears pricking forward. "Because he's  _always_ got good tech. Last time I managed to find him I got these--"

"Yes. That Loki."

"How do you know this Loki?" Drax asks.

"We grew up together." 

Gamora's watching him. She's still got a wicked cut across an arm, frost burn stretching up her neck like some weird fern turning her skin black. She'll heal, but her eyes are flat, considering.

"I don't know how long he's gonna be around, but if you guys want to make any deals or whatever, go for it. He's good for it."

Groot does a little dance at Rocket's obvious glee. At the least Loki will get some decent business out of this mess. He wonders if that's an asshole thing to think, then decides he's not going to worry about it.

"Gamora," he says, catching her arm before she leaves. "I. Uh." He rubs the back of his head as she looks at him. "I'm sorry about what happened. Are you going to be alright?"

"You did not tell me you were bound to a Jotun, Peter Quill."

"It hadn't come up! I haven't seen him in a year, he hasn't said anything, it didn't seem important while we were in the middle of, you know, trying to stop the galaxy from being destroyed. I didn't know that needed to be the top of my list of things to say."

Gamora snorts, shaking his hand off her arm.

"Perhaps you should revise your introduction."

"Gamora--"

"No. I am going to take time to think for myself." Gamora glares at him. Peter sighs, leaning back out of her space. "Perhaps you should take the time to  _discuss_ this with your ammul."

"I don't even know what that means!" Peter calls after her. Gamora doesn't even turn to look at him. "I don't." 

Maybe that's part of the problem.

***

Ammul is Jotnar. That's about all Peter can find out at first. Then he ends up with badly translated--Jotnar's complicated  _okay_ \--pages of data that suggests that he's in  _way_  over his head. 

"Why do  _you_  know what ammul means?" Peter asks Gamora. 

"I'm not talking to you," Gamora says, then shuts the door in his face.

Which leaves Loki.

Peter doesn't  _want_  to talk to Loki. They've never  _talked_  about these things. They've always just  _known_  how they fit together, always known the other will always be there, always known, well,  _everything_  they needed to know. Which is apparently what being ammul _is_? Peter's not Jotun,  _he_  doesn't know.

(Mostly he doesn't want to see Loki playing up the jaded pirate look--nevermind Peter helped him make it, nevermind Peter talked him into it. It's not  _Loki_.)

***

"Uh. Hey. You busy?" 

Loki shrugs, not even bothering to glance at Peter. When Peter sits down by him, Loki's already eased away, put space between them and moved his braid to the other side. It's all quick, half-instinctive, and all of it meant to make it clear Peter can't touch--even though his hands have been itching to since Loki showed up. 

"Look, Gamora mentioned--"

" _Gamora_." Loki rolls his eyes, moving to stand up. Peter grabs his wrist before he can.

"No, look, I know you two got off on the  _worst_  possible foot, but can you just  _listen_  to me? Please? Can I ask you to do that?"

Loki shakes his hand free and crosses his arms, glaring down at Peter. 

"You've got a sentence. Make it good."

" _Fuck_ , Loki! I didn't--" He jumps up, grabbing Loki and getting between him and the door. " _Listen to me_. I'm  _sorry_ , okay? You just up and disappeared for the past year, you haven't said anything, I figured you were busy, I kept hearing about you being a _pirate_ like you've always wanted, things  _happen_. You've  _known_  that, you've  _always_  known that I don't  _do_  just...  _whatever_. I don't even know. We've never  _talked_  about it." He takes a breath, meeting green eyes. "So can we  _please_  just  _talk_  about this?"

"Well?" There's blue touching Loki's joints--he's  _pissed_ , and it makes his glamour harder to hold. It always has. Peter almost wants to shove him until he  _can't_  hold it anymore, force him honest and cruel and cold and  _Loki_.

"Gamora mentioned a word, okay? And I don't know what it means, but she used it to talk about you and  _no,_ it wasn't an insult. She called you ammul. Okay?"

Loki's face stills entirely, then he hisses, shoving Peter. Not out of the way--not even trying to get him out of the way, just  _shoves_  him and Peter reaches for the first stable thing he can find.

It's Loki. It's always Loki.

Loki goes down with him, ends up tangled on top of him.

" _I_   _hate you_ ," Loki spits, slamming a fist into the floor next to Peter's head, face buried against Peter's chest. Peter eyes the dent in the floor and takes a steadying breath. Hesitantly, he pets Loki's hair, rubbing just behind his ear, other hand rubbing down one arm. Loki's shoulders start shaking and Peter relaxes some, relaxes more when Loki's hands change from white to blue. This is familiar.

Not  _good_ , but familiar. 

"Okay." Peter starts to rub his fingers against Loki's scalp a little more firmly, wrapping his free arm around him. "Can you tell me what I'm missing?"

Loki shakes his head. Peter hums and just keeps holding him, lets him remember how to breathe past the fury and the hurt.

"You know I can't--"

"Shut up. Just... shut up." Loki goes quiet, then whispers, "I know.  _I know_."

Peter shuts up. He doesn't know what to  _do_. He's never been the cause of Loki's hurt, not like this, and he's never needed to be anything but himself with Loki. He's...  _helpless_ , and he  _hates_  it. He's always been able to  _do something_. 

"Just... be quiet." 

"Hands above the waist. Got it." It's a joke. It's a bad joke, but it gets a weak laugh. Peter isn't sure he can hope for much more right now.

***

Loki falls asleep on top of him not long after. Peter supposes that answers his eternal wondering if Loki had found a way around the fact he didn't sleep without Peter--clearly  _no_. Loki doesn't even stir when Peter gets out from under him and moves him to a bed; his fingers just tangle in Peter's coat. Peter stays sitting next to him and pulls up a console, seeing if he can't parse through anymore of what he did manage to find on ammul. 

Gamora shows up a while later, crossing her arms and leaning in the doorway studying him. Peter blinks up at her, trying to figure out the protocol for this. God, this is awkward. 

"I am willing to work things out between us," Gamora announces. "Provided he is willing to do the same." Her eyes narrow. "He does use 'he' pronouns, correct?"

"Yeah. That's great. I mean. Yes, he uses he pronouns and yes, that's great. I talked him into it. Better power dynamics."

Gamora smirks a little.

"Of course you did."

"So... what does that mean? If he doesn't?"

Gamora shrugs.

"He will have to, as you say, 'deal with it.' I have no desire to go anywhere and he will have no way of forcing me to--I am clearly more skilled in combat than he."

"I really don't do love triangles," Peter says. "Not my style."

"Good." Gamora nods. "I will speak with him when he wakes."

***

Peter has  _no idea_  what Loki and Gamora talk about. He just knows Gamora won't stop smiling and Loki is eyeing her like he's trying to plan the best time to rip her throat out. Which he might be. Peter's seen that look a lot, there's a better chance of Thanos showing them mercy them than Loki not making a play to rip Gamora's throat out.

Loki leaves for a bit to talk to his ship and then determines that they're just going to guide the Milano through Asgardian space.

"Free protection," Loki says charmingly.

Gamora just  _smiles_.

"Something's going to blow up," Peter says to Rocket.

"Yeah, that's what you get. Jotun are fucking  _crazy_. Who the hell carries around grenades like these? These aren't even  _legal_ in Knowhere, if you don't want him I'll take him off your hands and I don't even  _like_  humanoids."

"I am Groot."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. He'd be better sticking with us  _anyway_."

***

Loki keeps showing up with new bruises and cuts. Gamora gets a few too, but they are  _definitely_  mostly Loki's. Loki  _also_  isn't sleeping with Peter, if he's sleeping at all. Peter doesn't think he is, with the particular hollow look under his eyes.

Gamora  _is_  sleeping with Peter.

"Do I want to know?" he asks.

"No. It's territorial. Very Jotun."

"I am not a piece of meat to fight over!"

Gamora shrugs.

"He needs the practice. I thought you said he was a pirate?" 

Peter stares at her. Gamora just grins at him, slinking closer.

"Trust me," she says lightly.

"This is going to backfire so badly."

***

Peter wakes up to a jolt of  _cold_  against bare skin.

"Whatthe--"

There's a flash of green in the dim light--Gamora--and then a  _whine_  and as Peter smacks the lights on he realizes that that's  _Loki,_ all blue skin and hair and  _Gamora is grabbing him by his braid oh god oh god_ \--

Loki doesn't lash out. He just watches Gamora. Gamora watches him. Peter thinks it would be hot if he wasn't distracted by the fact he is about to  _die_.

Peter has literally seen  _one person_  touch Loki's hair and live, and that's because _Peter has a mirror_.

He wonders if he holds his breath that they'll not notice he's here. Maybe he can sneak out. That should totally work. Definitely. He starts to slowly edge his way towards the side of the bed with minute little movements, because really,  _he does not want to be in the middle of this_.

Gamora's fist tightens, twists. Peter closes his eyes and wonders if it's too late to believe in God.

Nothing happens.

Cautiously, he opens an eye, then blinks both open. Gamora's got Loki's head tilted back and throat entirely exposed and Loki's just... letting her. His eyes are still on her, but he's letting her and suddenly Peter realizes there's ritual here he's  _totally_  missing when Gamora kisses Loki's exposed windpipe and murmurs something in Jotnar to him that the translator fails at entirely. Peter picks up  _trust-thanks-promise_  in it, a best guess common to untranslatable concepts.

Gamora lets go.

"This doesn't--" Loki bites off, staring at Gamora, eyes narrowed and a thousand times more tense in this moment than he was the entire time Gamora had him by the hair.

"No," Gamora says. "I will need to earn you, and you me. That does not change."

Loki nods, a quick jerk, a little tension easing out.

"What just happened?" Peter asks now that it doesn't look like he's going to die.

"Get the lights," Loki snaps. "Do you usually sleep with them on?"

Peter glances at Gamora, but she just quirks an eyebrow. Peter sighs, leaning over to turn them back off. Maybe someone will tell him in the morning.

***

"He is Jotun," Gamora says as she brushes out her hair. "They form emotional bonds that cause them severe psychological harm when broken. Before they can walk, they are taught rituals to navigate this. A defense mechanism." She nods to where Loki is still curled up sleeping in bed. "I simply engaged him on terms that he knows on an instinctive level."

Peter tries to process that and determines  _no_. 

" _What_?"

Gamora rolls her eyes.

"I gave him the necessary focal point so that if he wished to break with you without causing himself trauma he could, as well as gave myself a reason to beat his smug face in." She smirks. "Which was very satisfying. You are both far too smug."

"I take offense to that." Peter twists around to look at Loki, but Loki stays firmly asleep. He probably won't be when Peter finally gets off the bed, but for right now just being here is working. "What did you say to him?"

"It is an honour to have an opponent such as Loki bare his throat. I acknowledged that, and swore not to use it against him. Where you are concerned, I will care for both of our relationships equally. He will do the same." She shrugs. "We will sort out our relationship between each other on our own time, as you are not involved."

"Huh." Peter shakes his head. "I had no idea."

"Perhaps," Gamora says lightly, "you should start asking."


End file.
